IMAGO / Ardan Fuessmann
Ryanair is making good on its promise to halve its services at the Berlin’s airport. Twelve routes will be cancelled as of October 24th, two more than previously announced. Others will be reduced. The number of passengers at BER will decline, said Ryanair manager Marcel Pouchain Meyer. He issued a warning to the new Berlin Senate.
Ryanair will no longer serve Bologna, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Marseille, Palermo, Pisa, Reggio Calabria, Tallinn, Thessaloniki, Trieste, and Vilnius from BER. Frequencies on other routes will also be significantly reduced, according to Meyer. Ryanair is removing around 700,000 seats from the market across Germany this winter.
Ryanair’s head of marketing in Germany made their stance clear, stating that, “Despite the reduction in air passenger duty, costs in Germany are simply not competitive”. Further cost increases are looming at the new Schönefeld airport. “BER is already the most expensive airport in our network,” he explained. Ryanair described BER as “the least successful airport in Europe.”
On April 24, the world’s second-largest airline announced the closure of its Ryanair base at BER airport. Meyer has now confirmed that this decision is being implemented. All seven aircraft stationed there will be relocated to Sweden, Italy, Poland, and Ireland. Meyer reported that many of the 210 affected employees mentioned in April had accepted offers at other locations.